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May Day in Payette by Florence Bigelow


By the time I was in second grade, a group of ladies in Payette had formed the Portia Club, an organization whose mission was to bring culture to the town and area. One of their projects was a May First (May Day) celebration. Every school participated. My first memory of May Day was the Lantern Parade, a procession that wound up and down the town streets just after dark. My lantern was simple that year. Mom helped me cut out a three camel shapes on a round oatmeal box. Then we pasted yellow crepe paper over the holes on the inside of the box. A candleholder was firmly attached to the bottom of the box and a short, fat white candle inserted Then wires were attached to a long pole with a hook to support the lantern. We carried our lanterns swinging over our shoulders. Every child in every classroom had a lantern - it made a spectacular sight to see all those lighted lantersn bobbing along the streets. The older kids made very elaborate see-through pictures on their lanters - I remember one I made in later years of stylized flowers, with many colors of petals. Although such a parade now would be too great a fire hazard now to be allowed, I never heard of one such incident.

The May Day festival would begin about 10:00 in the morning with a parade of floats winding down the streets of Payette. I must say the merchants and social organization such as Masons, Eastern Star, Oddfellows, and various churches came up with some beautiful creations. The high school girl chosen as Queen of the May and her retinue of princesses rode on teh first float. It was a great honor to be chosen for the court, even better than being Homecoming or Prom Royalty! Marching bands from area high schools also participated, and there was the usual number of comic marches, animals on parade, and of course, the horse and riders contingent.

At the end of the parade, folks gathered at the high school building which sat well above the street level, its terrace providing a stage for the pageant that followed. There were two big Maypoles with ribbon streamers, and it took many practices for the dancers to get through the complicated steps, and even more complicated management of weaving ribbons so they ended up tightly embracing the pole in a prearranged pattern.

Following the Maypole Dance, the various grade levels did their fold dances. The year I was in fifth grad, somehow Mom and Dad were able to see that I got to all teh evening practices for our group - I got to be a raindrop, in a costume of silver crepe paper, with row after row of silver strips loosely fastened to the dress meant to give the illusion of falling rain. We danced to the music of the William Tell Overture - what a thrill that was for me to get to perform before all those people!

When the pageant was over, people brought their picnic baskets to the park, and kids got to tear around and relax after so much sitting and watching. This was an all-day affair, with competitions on teh city streets such as sack races, horseshoes, or the carnival which came every year. While Mom was more than frugal, she could never resist a Merry-Go-Round! We had such rides as "Crack-the-Whip" and "Tilt-aWhirl". One year I had my fortune told by a woman who was traveling with the carnival. I had to "cross her palm" with a fifty-cent piece to learn my future. She told me my parents loved me very much and I would live to be 86. I did the math and thought I would be 86 in the year 2000 - I greatly doubted I would still be here when we entered a new century, but here I am! The festival ended with a street dance after the lantern parade.

Those ladies in the Portia club did try to bring some art into our world. Years later, my friend Margaret Rinebold, and I went to the Rose Festival in Portland, a several day affair. One afternoon, we found we had some free time, so decided to drop into our hotel bar for a drink. We happened to be seated at a table close to one occupied by two couples. The four of them had apparently been in the bar a long time, and by now they were loud and super-friendly. Soon we were conversing and trading information - they had all come from California to attend the Festival, but they wanted us to guess where they had been born. One woman was a native of Mullan, Idaho, and finally we got around to the man who said, ""You've never heard fo teh town where I was born - It is a beautiful little city in southern Idaho, and it was the most wonderful place when I was a child." At that point he began describing the May Day pageants, and even remarked on the "symphonies under the stars" on summer nights. About that time I told him that was my birthplace, too, and that I had preceded him by years and years. I didn't correct him or his memories of teh symphonies. What he remembered as symphonies were probably the Thursday night band concerts put on by thte city band. Lots of people would drive into town, or just walk down to the park to listen to the band - I think there were some pretty good musicians that played. By the time this man was five or six yeard old, the concerts had moved to the new Kiwanis Park, where there is a nice band shell. Ice cream cones and popcorn were also available. Doesn't Payette have a nice image? Margaret has never stopped teasing me about beoing born in the cultural capital of the Northwest! Still, I ahve to give credit to the members of the Portia Club. As far as I know, I think they are still holding the Weekly Musicale, with local artists performing.

Florence Steigerwalt Lattig Bigelow
October 13, 2001

 
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